Sound Transit plans to close $34.5B shortfall over 2 decades, reshaping light rail future – KOMO

On Thursday, Sound Transit is expected to outline how it plans to address a $34.5 billion shortfall over the next 20 years, a gap that could reshape future light-rail expansion plans across the region.

Details are expected during the Sound Transit Board’s executive committee meeting, which starts at 10:30 a.m.

Parts of Seattle, along with Tacoma and Everett, have been waiting to learn whether they could be cut out of future rail service due to lack of funding.

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In Pierce County, a planned project would add eight miles of track with four stations at south Federal Way, Fife, Portland Avenue, and the Tacoma Dome. It remains unclear whether that project will move forward.

In Snohomish County, people who attended recent meetings said they expect Sound Transit to add 16 miles of light-rail track extending the current system from Lynnwood to Everett, including seven new stations. But it is still uncertain whether those stations will be built, despite years of residents paying into Sound Transit through car tabs.

Voters have approved three Sound Transit initiatives to create the regional transit system since November 1996.

The original plan was called Sound Move. It authorized the initial light rail, the Sounder commuter rail, and the ST Express bus network.

Then, in 2008, voters approved ST2 to expand the system with 36 miles of new light rail, including extensions to Lynnwood and Redmond, which have both opened.

In 2016, ST3 passed with more than 54% of the vote.

It funded a major expansion of 62 new miles to bring light rail to areas such as Ballard, West Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, and a new light rail line from south Kirkland through Bellevue, and to Issaquah.

The executive committee meeting is expected to provide more clarity on what comes next for several lines.